FanPost

My Two Cents for Offseason and Draft




Hello Fans,

Just like everyone else across the internet, I want to chime in with my two cents. So far, I've listened to and read tons of ideas from you guys in regards to off-season and draft moves in which I had a chance to digest for a bit. Therefore, I developed a bit of ideas by examining at other front offices for a bit. And if you are an average sports fan, then these ideas wouldn't be new to you but nonetheless, you would be reminded of such.

In 2012, Ryan Grigson had a grand total of ten draft picks to work from, while he performed one of his best work that year as a General Manager (or 'GM' for short). Aside from the obvious Andrew Luck, Grigson also drafted TY Hilton, LaVon Brazill, Josh Chapman, Coby "Tim Riggins" Fleener, Dwayne Allen, Vick Ballard, and even Chandler Harnish in which they all contributed to the team in varying degrees. But I would say that there's 5-6 major contributors to the team from 2012.

In 2013, Colts GM Ryan Grigson had 7 draft picks to work from in which he drafted Bjoern Werner, Montori Hughes, Khaled Holmes, Hugh Thornton as contributing players for the Colts. The other three picks were cut or let go in some fashion. I would say that Bjoern Werner, Hugh Thornton, and Montori Hughes were the significant contributors to that team from 2013 and so only 3 guys there. I don't count Vontae Davis because he isn't a part of 2013 draft class but he was quite a good trade.

In 2014, Ryan Grigson had only 5 draft picks to work with, which is a smaller number of picks than in 2013. No first round pick here but Ryan Grigson drafted Jack Mewhort, Donte Moncrief, Jonathan Newsome, Andrew Jackson, and Ulrick John. Only 3 players from 2014 are all major contributors to the team.

Looking at our 3 year draft history, I notice that Ryan Grigson has had less and less draft picks to work with each year (10 from 2012, 7 in 2013, to only 5 in 2014). With that, number of major contributors to the team from their draft class dwindled from 5-6 in 2012 to just 3 in 2013 and 2014. What am I saying here? I think that drafting a number of successful contributors to the team has a lot to do with having more draft picks in general. Duh, but it is true, I would think. Teams like the Patriots usually trade down quite a bit and stockpile on picks, playing a lottery game or so to speak. We all know that Ryan Grigson is a pretty good drafter but he hasn't had a good amount of picks to work with in 2013 and 2014. And therefore, each draft class only had less than a handful of major contributors from their draft classes in those years.

So, what's my suggestion? Well, you heard it from others but I want to step forward and make a couple since it's free agency and draft season.

  1. Look for a trading partner and trade down from no. 29 to stockpile picks, that is if there isn't any stud lineman.
  2. Primarily focus on drafting linemen and RB. I didn't say defense because trenches is far more important right here since the battle is won here. I would build teams from "QBs-On-Out" in order of priority (as in positions closer to the QB, thus the higher it is on the priority list; for example: a WR stands far away from the QB and therefore, it's not that high up on priority list. But a center that stands directly in front of the QB? He's very high on the priority list but you can say this with any offensive lineman since they count as single cohesive unit. Understood?); build to disrupt opposing QBs with defensive linemen and to help your QB with offensive linemen.
  3. Speaking of above, re-sign Hakeem Nicks or get a proven WR who isn't too expensive on a 1 to 2 year deal. TY Hilton, Donte Moncrief, and Hakeem Nicks are a pretty trio of WRs. Add in Duron Carter too if you wish.
  4. Speaking of above, possibly re-sign Ahmad Bradshaw and draft a RB in rounds 2 to 7. Bradshaw, Mystery RB, Vick Ballard, and Daniel "Boom" Herron are a nice set to work with in training camp.
  5. In the future, trade away any high performing but aging players to another team for more picks. Drafting is ALL about acquiring more lottery tickets so you can get some good returns from them. We've seen what happened when Ryan Grigson had a double-digit number of picks to work with in 2012 to some great results. I propose a hypothetical question that I may get a lot of flak for but I'm curious to hear from y'all if possible: do you think Grigson should've traded away Reggie Wayne after 2012 for a draft pick (say in round 2 or 3) for 2013? And should Grigson trade away Robert Mathis after 2013 for a draft pick (perhaps round 2 to 4) for 2014? And yes, I love those guys, too but Indianapolis Colts is a business first, and a family second. Think of how Bill Belichick operates his team and think of where he's at as of right now.

So, lots of draft picks and getting tons of linemen and depth with them in rounds 2 through 7 if possible. I would also propose that the WRs and RBs positions should be a plug-and-play positions. If Tom Brady can win with UDFA WRs and Julian Edelman and Wes Welker, so can Andrew Luck. I believe in the fact that if a team employs a good set of QB and offensive line as an unit, then the team can easily plug and play any WRs and RBs. You don't need a Calvin Johnson, Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson-type of WRs (although they're bonuses) and you don't need an Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch-type of RBs, either. The reason why any team would need to employ studs at RBs and WRs is because either that team's QB isn't very good or his offensive linemen aren't good, or both. So, you need good to elite RB and WR talent to overcome those deficiencies. In our case? Andrew Luck is good but his linemen aren't, and so suggest Grigson to focus on the linemen by drafting or buying them in FA (another plus on stockpiling on draft picks? You stockpile on talents from the draft that you wouldn't necessarily need to go shopping during free agency and spend more cap money to overcome glaring holes in important areas like linemen). If Andrew Luck has enough time to throw the ball, then he can throw to a set of Griff Whalen, Duron Carter, and TY Hilton (and/or Donte Moncrief) for all I care and the offense could operate without a problem. He'll get the ball to them very easily because the single most important unit is already set -- the QB and linemen. And plug in a decent RB and there you have it.

In summary, Grigson needs to focus trading down to stockpile more draft picks, build the lines on both sides of the ball, and shift the team's cap focus primarily to linemen, TE, CB, and QB.

That's my two cents... and thank you if you manage to read through this huge block of texts.

Feel free to lay out your two cents or whatever in the comments section as I'll read through 'em.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.